Ambisonics is a surround sound technique based on spherical Fourier expansion of the sound field. Ambisonics is used to represent a 3D sound field for scene-based audio. This representation can be performed using first order Ambisonics (FOA) or higher order Ambisonics (HOA.) Within the context of this disclosure, the term Ambisonics or ambisonic content refers to any order of Ambisonics of ambisonic content. A sound source can either be encoded in an ambisonic format, or it may be recorded via a special microphone. Such a representation of the sound field may then be transmitted to an end user machine where it is decoded for playback. Conventional ambisonic decoders require an optimally placed fixed loudspeaker setup which means that the decoders cannot perform well with arbitrary loudspeaker setups.
Panning is the distribution of a sound signal into a new stereo or multi-channel sound field, as determined by a pan control setting that may for example be in the range from a hard left position to a hard right position. Existing panning techniques have some limitations. For example, the existing panning techniques do not perform well when loudspeakers are not distributed in a way that fully encompasses the listening position (e.g., horizontal loudspeaker setups, frontal only setups, etc.). Existing panning techniques only perform well when the panning trajectory is within the span of the loudspeakers. Some loudspeaker setups impose limitations on more complex panning trajectories, such as when trying to pan a sound source in 3-dimensional space while the loudspeaker setup spans only a 2-dimensional space.